Monthly Archives: July 2011

We know you’re busy and the Internet is a crowded place, so we’ll try to give you a little reminder on Fridays of what’s going on out there. Below please find five recent FontShop-related threads that you may have missed.

Our communications manager, Meghan, digs the newly released FF Mister K informal. “I’ve been a big fan of the whole family, but now I can have a font to express my more casual Kafkaesque situations,” she jokes. “In all seriousness though, there are so many unique and beautiful glyphs in this version – it’s a very fun font to explore.”

Most of our readers are probably well familiar with OpenType features. They allow you to set type using glyphs that are not necessarily available by default, giving you a much wider range of effect. This is especially helpful when working with a script font — a point that is often demonstrated in the work of Alejandro Paul and his foundry Sudtipos. Many of his scripts contain vast character sets with tons of alternative glyphs, among them Suave Script, Affair, and the recently featured Fiance. Another is the beautiful Compendium, which we’ll take a look at below.

Here’s Compendium in Adobe Illustrator, with only the default Standard Ligatures activated:

Now let’s activate Contextual Alternates:

… with Swash caps turned on at the same time:

Now we take a step back and try out the Stylistic Alternates:

… and now Stylistic and Contextual Alternates together:

Just by flipping a switch, you can see how much variation one can get from feature to feature. Of course for best effect, one should go through the entire glyph palette and insert individual glyphs that best fit your sample, layout, or intended aesthetic. If you don’t want colliding flourishes, for example, there is likely a combination of glyphs that will fit together perfectly. You may also find additional flourishes, such as what can be found in Compendium:

Now that we’ve unleashed the FontBook iPad app on the world, we want to take some time to show you all the goodies packed inside. Watch for our FontBook Features posts throughout the coming weeks. Also, remember if you have general questions about app, we’ll keep our FAQs documented here.

A stunning look at the typographic timeline can be found by clicking on “Year” on the homescreen on the app. You then have the ability to browse by century, then decade, then year as type progresses.

Drill in and you’ll see all typefaces created during that timeframe (or their modern equivalents).

This is a great route to take to a product page, especially if your design is trying to capture a certain era.

We know you’re busy and the Internet is a crowded place, so we’ll try to give you a little reminder on Fridays of what’s going on out there. Below please find five recent FontShop-related threads that you may have missed.

Now that we’ve unleashed the FontBook iPad app on the world, we want to take some time to show you all the goodies packed inside. Watch for our FontBook Features posts throughout the coming weeks. Also, remember if you have general questions about app, we’ll keep our FAQs documented here.

Today we want to point out the easy and beautiful search function built into the app. Just select the magnifying glass on the top bar on any page in the app. You can search by font family, designer or foundry. And remember the app is gorgeous in either portrait or landscape! Try it yourself and see how the samples auto-populate and rearrange as you refine your search.

FontBook 3.0.5 for iPhone and iPad is here and compatible with iOS 7! We answer some of your burning questions below, but feel free to leave more in the comments.

What’s new in version 3.0.5?

Improved rendering of special characters

“Cancel Search” button added (iPhone only)

Support for iOS 7

Minor bug fixes

New app icon

If I purchase the app, can I use it on both my iPhone and iPad?

Yes, as a universal app, you pay once and you may install it on any of your iOS devices. FontBook runs on iPad 2 (and later), iPad Mini, iPhone 4 (and later) and iPod touch (4th gen. and later)

Is there an Android version of the FontBook?

Not currently. While we are watching the growth of the Android market, we would first like to experience the transition from print to digital FontBook on one platform.

But what about print?

We want to deliver more information than ever before with the new typeface compendium. Note that the App delivers 620,000 font specimens — 19 times more than the printed FontBook 4. With FontBook 4, in 2006, we had to make compromises to host all available typefaces in one volume. For example, we downsized the showing of FF Meta (26 fonts) from three pages in 1998’s FontBook 3 to one page, despite the fact that the family had grown to 300 weights in the meantime. We did that by squeezing the stylistic sets into four lines of sample text — not a very user-friendly compromise. FF Meta is now shown in its entirety. The app also allows you to combine and compare type specimens — completely impossible with previous editions unless you were willing to tear your book apart.

Can I download fonts on my device?

iOS does not support the installation of fonts by the user. However you can download font files that have been purchased on FontShop with mobile Safari once you log into your account from a desktop computer.

Does FontBook contain the actual files of the shown fonts?

No. The FontBook app delivers raster images of typefaces that are generated and stored on a server. FontBook is an online Browser.

Can I use the FontBook app without an internet connection?

The app is primarily an online browsing application and can only display its full content when your device has live internet access through a WiFi/WLAN or 3G mobile connection. However, if you have no online access, you can temporarily switch the “Include online content” setting to “off”. This will enable the app to display a reduced pool of selected content which will work offline. Whenever you do have online access, you can switch back to the full version by switching the “Include online content” setting to “on”.

FontShop is thrilled to announce our new FontBook™ iPad app, the world’s most comprehensive typographic reference tool! Download the app for just $5.99/€4.99 at the iTunes App Store.

Moving the book into the online realm allows us to increase the number of font samples from 32,000 to an astonishing 620,000, while reducing the weight of the book by 80%. Use the FontBook app to look up and view fonts by name, style category, typographical subclassification, designer name, foundry name, year of publication, or by similarity of design. Now typophiles can interact with and compare typefaces on-the-go and with the swipe of a finger.

In case you missed today’s newsletter, we’ve got a ton of updates in the world of Web FontFonts. In addition to several FontFonts adding web versions, there’s also all sorts of goodies packed into them. Check it out:

Designers rejoice! Comp fonts now included in Web FFs

Once again FontFont is leading the charge in webfont technology and making the lives of designers much easier! It’s now even simpler to involve great typefaces like FF Meta Web, FF Unit Web, or the new FF Sero Web in all phases of website creation. We know that during the design process it may be necessary to create page layouts of the proposed design using applications that don’t support WOFF/EOT fonts. For this purpose, Web FontFont archives now contain corresponding TrueType-flavored OpenType fonts for the offline design phase. As reflected in the amended Web FontFont EULA, these comp fonts may only be used for this specific purpose.

Improved Web FontFonts

Additionally, Web FontFonts have been reworked to ensure you end up with a smaller file size, additional optimization for Microsoft’s rendering API DirectWrite and improved vertical metrics for consistent baseline positions in all browsers. In many of the files, you can also now choose between Oldstyle Figures and Proportional Lining Figures. If you’ve already purchased Web FontFonts, you can enjoy these enhancements; upgraded files are available for download in your account at no additional cost.

FontFont Subsetter

Once you’ve downloaded your Web FontFonts, use Subsetter to create a new, lighter webfont file tailored to the needs of your website. Learn more here.

We know you’re busy and the Internet is a crowded place, so we’ll try to give you a little reminder on Fridays of what’s going on out there. Below please find five recent FontShop-related threads that you may have missed.

But Letterbox didn’t stop with Terital; in fact the entire library was upgraded. All fonts were re-coded, some with updated and refined outlines and others with new glyphs and features. Here are a few standouts:

Berber is a strong, narrow, block-style sans serif. While typically meant for use in larger applications like signage, this recent incarnation of the the typeface increases its legibility in text settings. Berber Text now comes with Small Caps, while the King Caps variant offers some great underlined ligatures. Central European language diacritics have also been added to the family.

Kevlar is a set of interesting hybrids. The Regular and Bold weights, similar to TypeTogether‘s Bree, are sans serifs with a distinct scripty vibe. Kevlar Slab meanwhile is an upright retro display script, like Michael Doret‘s Deliscript, which acts as a nice and extreme display option for the family. Figure variants have been added to all three styles.

Another upright script, Bisque is a unique blend of quirkiness and elegance, combining the coolness of geometric form with the warmth of unexpected and organic loops and glyph connections. The two weights are packed with contextual alternates and language diacritics, which are nicely illustrated in the specimen PDF.

In case you’ve missed the exciting news, TYPO returns home to London this fall. Of course, what would a premier design conference be without a first-rate website employing a solid webfont? TYPO London’s leverages FF Unit Web throughout to communicate information about the event. Want to learn more? Information on TYPO London is below.

TYPO is coming home!

We are delighted to announce that TYPO London, the event based on the hugely successful TYPO Berlin, will return to its roots in London, the city where it all began with FUSE 1994. Europe’s most successful annual design conference was founded in 1996 from the impetus created by the first two FUSE Conferences in London 1994 and Berlin 1995. The Berlin FUSE conference was the springboard that created the demand for TYPO. It is fitting that the founder of FUSE, legendary designer and typographer Neville Brody, “Britain’s first pop-star typographer” (International Herald Tribune), will be one of the speakers at TYPO London 2011.

In October FUSE will return to its roots – as TYPO London 2011. Some 1,000 typographers, designers and communication professionals from all over the world will have the opportunity to follow an eclectic and inspiring mix of talks by the most influential thinkers of these disciplines. Among the speakers who have confirmed their attendance for TYPO London 2011 are: Neville Brody, Michael Bierut, König Bansah, Jonathan Ellery, Jeff Faulkner, Tim Fendley, Dale Herigstad, Nat Hunter, Gary Hustwit, Michael B Johnson, Chip Kidd, Morag Myerscough, Pamela Mead, Karin von Ompteda, Joachim Sauter, Marina Willer, Laurence Weiner, Julian Zimmermann and many more.

The theme of this years TYPO London is »Places«. From information and urban planning to social networks, online communities and animated worlds, places shape our social behaviour. Design and the creative process is often the unifying factor linking people, places and things together.

How are we doing? We want to know and we hope you will tell us. We’ve put together a quick customer feedback survey that will just take a few minutes of your time. Please fill it out by Friday, July 29 and we’ll send you a 20% off discount code to show our appreciation!

We know you’re busy and the Internet is a crowded place, so we’ll try to give you a little reminder on Fridays of what’s going on out there. Below please find five recent FontShop-related threads that you may have missed.